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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1986-02-05, Page 14I • Commun BY SUSAN HUNDERTMARK When Jennifer Gowanlock of Goderich arrived alone in London, England last November, she was the only foreign stu- dent of 257 hopefuls to audition for a .place at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), one of the . oldest, most prestigious theatre schools in the world. After three call-backs, the 21 -year-old became one of six students to be accepted in the stage management course. But, acceptance was the easy part. She is now faced with the prospect of raising $10,000 to attend. Because no government assistance is available, she is filling an empty calendar with odd jobs. in the Goderich community and hopes to solicit funds from service clubs, foundations or corporations. "Canada is still not a culturally -aware country so there are no grants available for students of the arts at an international level. I've gone through all the channels. ;But, I'm quite hopeful. I just got my first ;.donation for $50 from the Lioness Club," :she says. • Starting with little more than desire and 'working forward with guts and determina- •• .tion has helped Jenniter reach her goals before now. When she learned about RADA during her first year, in York -University's drama program, she thought -the school wouldn't even look at her ap- plication. Invitedfor audition And, while she was thrilled when she was invited for an audition, there was no guarantee she'd make it after investing the time and money to travel to England. "I took a chance and went by myself. I did it all on my own because I figured it was good for me as far as independence and survival goes," says Jennifer. She arrived in London two days before :her audition and decided to• attend a play =at the Royal Court Theatre before her 'audition so she would have something to .talk about. After the play, she asked to talk :to the stage manager, who, by, coin- cidence, had just graduated from RADA. She invited Jennifer to work at the matinee performance at the theatre the next day. "I helped setting props, mending costumes and cleaning up after the play. What was great about it was I was able to •say I'd worked in a theatre in London, England at the audition. The professors Were very impressed with my tenacity," she says. When the.. day of the audition arrived, Jennifer first wrote an hour and a half ex- amination. She was then taken to a little room where six very formal and very serious professors sat. Seated at the end of a long table, Jennifer was told to begin her monologue when she was ready: "I deliberately chose an obscure ' passage—a three minute monologue by pueen Gertrude in ost eople would not ho sHamlet—because that and it was the first time RADA had ever heard that as'an audition piece. It was goodbecause they had nothing to compare it with," she says. After the monologue came questions about Jennifer's ability to sew, type, her background and experience and why she wanted to attend RADA. "The room was very tense. There was no friendliness and I knew there was a certain reserve with British professors so I'd have to break the ice." "I deliberately wbre an outfit I'd made myself so when they asked if I could sew, I stood up and made a curtsey. They all started clapping and everything became friendly and relaxed after that." When one of the professors mentioned that only six students would be chosen, Jennifer, who had not known, says she was angry since she was sure she had wasted her time and money by flying to London. "It just hit me in the face. I was angry because I thought I should never have bothered in the first place," she says. But, she was called back to the school three times for further interviews and she steadily gained hope until the third callback when she was taken aback by comments like, "Don't limit yourselfto RADA. Make other applications to other schools" and "We hope you've enjoyed your stay in London." "4 thought they. were refusing me right then and there even though they said they were most impressed- by my determina- tion and courage since I was the only t • Entertainment • Features • Religion • Family • More PJ SECTION to go to RADA. I would have liked to have had that opportunity when I was young. A lot of great names, including Peter O'Toole, Joan Collins and Charles Lauten, have come out of that school," she says. Because he says it's an exceptional sur- prise when RADA accepts anyone, Philip McMillan, Jennifer's drama teacher at GDCI, is thrilled about her acceptance. "She was one of the best students I've .ever had. She's sort of a benchmark stu- dent, one you measure other students from," he says. Since government grants are available for training in other professions, McMillan says Jennifer's desire to attend RADA should not be limited by money. "She's a prime example of an artist in need to train. The government won't fund her because they think Canadian schools are of good enough quality; they're ade- quate but not better. It's impossible for arts to survive without a subsidy," he says. John Smallwood, her English teacher at GDCI, agrees. "If a kid showed talent in hockey, he'd be on silver skates by now. There's a whole network there he could fall back on. But, arts are impossible to raise money far," -he says. . Smallwood calls Jennifer "one of the most creative and insightful students" he's ever taught and "a superb writer." Because playwrighting and directing are Je ifer's long term goals, she has been attempting to gain as many ex- periences as possible which she can write about. And, that's one of the reasons she wants to study in London. "What's the sense of staying in Canada to study Shakespeare? There's so much British heritage in Shakespeare and I'm going to the roots of it, , she says. Once she's finished her two year course at RADA, Jennifer wants to return home and help to bring Canadian theatre back to Canadians. "Canadians have always brought a British artist like John Neville to run our theatres. I'd like to set up a Canadian theatre somewhere, sometime similar to •, Stratford run by Canadians," she says. Another reason Jennifer wants to study at RADA is the hands-on experience it of- fers its stage management students. Though she studied stage management at York University with blackboard diagrams and books, she will study it by actually building sets and putting on 10 to 12 productions during a 15 week term. "That's quite a lot of work but I quite en- joy working with an overload. I work well under pressure." "After one year at York, I realized I didn't want to study their way. There are no practical classes in set building in Canada because there are no funds available," she says. Other courses Jennifer will be taking in- clude . theatre management, vocal ' train- ing, stage technique, furniture building, electricity, lighting, sound and perfor- mance. "Regardless of what you are, you still do performance classes so you know how to get along with actors and understand them." Jennifer says she chose stage manage- ment over performance because it means • a much more stable lifestyle. • foreign student. The rest were all from Britain," she says. So, she was in a blue mood when a letter arrived for her in the mail while she was still in London. She left it sitting on the shelf while she went for a walk. When she worked up the courage to open the letter, she discovered it was her accep- tance into the school. She called home im- mediately, forgetting that it would be 6 a.m. in Goderich at 11 a.m. in England. "There wasn't a soul in London I could tell so I phoned home and woke up the whole house. My parents are behind me 100 per cent," she says. Jennifer's parents, . LeRoy and Nina Gowanlock, are used to their daughter's independent and adventuresome spirit, she says. "I'm somewhat a free spirit and once you let that take control, you can't go back , to the ho hum," she says. After attendin: York Univcrsit for? a year, Jennifer spent last year as an au pa it • girl (mother's helper) in Germany where she added German to her list of fluent foreign languages including English, French and Spanish. Jennifer Black, who played Snoopy, in "Charlie Brown", says she's a good per- former with lots of talent. "I think it's : reat she has an o . . ortunit "I did a lot of travelling in Western Europe with a German family and 1 got to see Germany and its people as they really are, not as a tourist," she says. During high school at Goderich District Collegiate Institute, Jennifer was involved in performing with Goderich . Little Theatre, fundraising for the Livery and drama club in school. She played Lucy in "You're a Good:Man, Charlie Brown" with Goderich Little Theatre and Lisa in "David and Lisa" with the GDCI drama club. POSTSCRIPT By Susan Hundertmark Seven astronauts aren't the only heros Works at odd jobs But, before she gets to achieve her goals, Jennifer is working at odd jobs including wallpapering, painting and babysitting to work towards the $10,000 she needsfor school. She's also working with the Goderich Recreation Board's ' children's theatre workshop to earn money towards her future. On Saturday afternoons, she helps Jennifer Black teach children to perform in front of their peers and an audience, to emote, to move and, to feel comfortable with different characters. "They're a super group of children;. they're so imaginative and uninhibited," she says. And, if she raises the $10,000, she'll be on an airplane bound for London, England in , May. • "Hopefully, the. financial struggle I'm having will be gone in 20 years. Somebody shouldn't have to go through what I'm go- ing through. There are a lot of headaches," she sa s. , I•, have always admired and tried to emulate those people whose driving force is a thirst for greater knowledge and understanding. So, I couldn't help but feel the loss of the seven U.S. astronauts who died last week when the space shut- tle Challenger exploded. The seven were members of the truly inquisitive. Already highly -trained specialists in their own fields, the astronauts all shared a desire to continue their growth and learning by "reaching forthe stars." Though they died in the at- tempt, they reminded the rest of the world of the risks necessary to achieve human growth. And, at a gut level, I mourned when I shared the suffering of the, surviving families through the painful intimacy of television cameras. No matter what the circumstances of their deaths, the astronauts were first human beings who left loved ones to mourn them. But, I hesitated when patriotic U.S. commentators began to use the word "hero" to describe them. Certainly, the seven paid the ultimate price and their contribution was a significant one. But, - . were their deaths more important than any others happening every minute around the world? I rebel at the word "hero" to describe them because it elevates the astronauts to 'a greater level tha1n human. An, though I would never. want to to e anything away from the r accomplishments, the astronauts were definitely human. They accepted the risks involved in a highly complicated but glamorous job. They possessed the human fraility which is not found in cartoon superheros who survive the greatest of odds. Their deaths demand that .we re-examine the space program and the ,,,human cost involved. Their . deaths ask whether technology could have been used to do the job instead. And, they ask if even more safety precautions can be taken to reduce the risks involved. The word "'hero". also suggests that the lives of the astronauts were somehow more valuable than the rest of humanity and therefore that their deaths should be mourned more loudly. I have trouble with that suggestion. I think it's a shame that we always look for our heros in the limelight where they perform daring deeds most of us would never have the opportunity to attempt. People we can admire and learn from can be foundplmost everywhere. Though he may be just getting on•with his life, a handicapped ' man in a wheelchair . who continues to live and grow despite his handicap, possesses heroic qualities. Similarly, a single parent keeping the family fed, ' clothed and content, a university student working at part-time jobs to pay for tuition and a volunteer contributing numerous hours to the community are all people to be admired. Everyone has the • potential for greatness and depending whose criteria you .use, many can be said to be achieving it already (or at least are on the right track). . The element of choice also makes me question the use of the word "hero" when describing the astronauts. It's been pointed out that they tivere fully aware of the risks involved and chose to take them. Such a choice is not available to those who die every day in countries where political unrest, war, and famine continue unabated. • And, in.my mind, the Ethiopian mother •who helplessly watches her child die in her arms from hunger, the South African , who is killed by government officials for demanding an end to apartheid and the Nicaraguan living illegally in the U.S. in order to escape the torture and terror of his country, all demonstrate a special brand of courage. Though they would never choose to be placed 'in such a situation, they continue to endure in a place where survival is a daily struggle. And, because of their situation, we seldom admire their heroics. Instead, we pity them if we give them any thought at all. , I am not suggesting that we ,get rid of the idea of heros. We all need heros to help us aspire to -greatness. But, too often we only look in the direction the' television cameras point in ' our search for heros. Too often we build mile -high pedestals on which we place our heros, separating them ' from the rest of humanity to the point that they cease to be human at al. And, it's their human qualities an situations.that best inspire us to emulate then while demanding greater , effort from ourselves. • . We need a new definition of hero, one,, that includes both low- and high-profile people based on the courage with which they live their lives. If we judge 'the astronauts to be heros because they encourage, us to shoot for the stars, we must widen the category to include the less celebrated people who give us ofinspiration in'their own ways. During ,r ' a Good, ' abs to helpreach her' goat of $10,000 is teaching movement and performance at the One of Jennifer's ' Man, harlie Brown," Jennifer Theatre rowanlock� played Luey while Kim "mirror iworkshop aton Saturday afternoons. One of the exercises involves perfprtri- • p y children s theatre The Livery Ladd played Linus. (photo by Colleen Maguire) Watt Ifundertmurk) ins mirror images, (photo by Watt